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“Y—yes. It—it’s nice to meet you,” I say, barely able to meet her gaze.

It’s not.

She seems incredibly mean. I hate the way she looked at Archer. She touched him, too. I hate that more.

I like Charlotte a lot more than I like this omega.

“I don’t recognize you,” she says, crossing her arms across her chest.

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just stay silent.

“Brandy,” Archer growls.

“Don’t ‘Brandy,’ me, Archer. I make it my business to know of all registered omegas that run in our circles.” She narrows her eyes at me. “And I don’t know this omega. Which means she must be unregistered.”

Archer noticeably stiffens, his jaw clenched shut. Brandy notices his silence, her eyes widening. Maybe part of her wanted him to deny where I’m from or that I’m unregistered.

“You’re from the Southside!” she yells, pointing at me accusingly as if she’s saying that I have some contagious disease.

I stupidly nod.

She whirls around to point at Archer. “You’re keeping a fucking unregistered Southside omega in your home? This is the kind of omega you want? When you could have someone like me?”

I purse my lips, my fingernails digging into the flesh of my palm. Half of me is terrified she’s right. That I’m not the kind of omega that alphas like the Ward pack should be with. They should be with someone beautiful and confident and who knows about the world they live in.

The other half of me is furious. Who is this woman to come in here and yell at Archer like that when she claims that she wants to be with him?

How dare she?

While it seems like this omega may have known Archer and the pack longer than I’ve known them, I clearly know that these guys wouldn’t be interested in someone so horribly mean, and if I’m being completely honest, bitchy.

“What the hell’re you doing here?” Chase comes down one hallway in a black tank top and his favorite gray sweats, a towel thrown across his shoulders. Madden and Kane both followbehind him and both of them are drenched in sweat from their workout.

Kane’s eyes immediately dart to my trembling hands. It’s like he can see right through my attempt at staying calm. When Kane steps between Brandy and I, I see her eyes go wide.

“So you guys actually like this Southside whore?” she hisses.

“Shut the fuck up,” Madden growls, also taking a few steps forward to defend me. “You can say shit about me and other Southsiders all you want outside, but you’re not going to insult her in her home!”

“Her home?” Brandy says, her voice going dangerously quiet. She turns towards Archer, her face growing red with anger. “HERhome!?” She screeches. “It’s not enough that you allow this Southside scum into your pack?”

Something inside me snaps when I see her point a finger at Madden while she screams her head off. I see the way Madden’s shoulders stiffen at her words. The scar on his face seems to tug awkwardly at the skin around it as he winces.

Howdareshe.

I don’t even have a chance to process what I’m doing before I step in between her and Madden and slap her hand down.

“Stop it.”

I didn’t know it was possible for her expression to turn even more furious than it already was, but it happened. I see the burning fire of hatred in her eyes when she looks at me.

Then I see white.

I’m stumbling to the side, my cheek stinging with the impact of her backhanded slap.

The entire room erupts into chaos. Madden practically roars with anger as he comes up behind me and holds me steady.

“You fucking bitch!” Chase yells.